Today is Beltane, the Celtic festival of High Spring and mid point between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. Nature is bursting forth, trees groan under the weight of fat blossoms and I’m able to go for a pond swim on Hampstead Heath without risking hypothermia.
This is the time for birthing our projects and putting them into the world – the howling, bloodied babies we’ve been gestating through the winter months are being expelled from the womb and exposed to the light. As Call The Midwife shows us, childbirth isn’t orderly – it’s messy and inelegant – yet it expresses a life force that cannot be denied.
The project I’m birthing right now is my long cherished dream of moving to the coast – a plan I started this time last year and intend to complete by midsummer. I’ve kept going through all the ups and downs of losing a house at the last minute and starting all over again, but this last push is testing my resilience to the limit – can I face looking at yet another survey or solicitor’s letter? I’m reminded of those birthing scenes where the mother exclaims: “I can’t do it – I give up!” and the midwife says: “Yes you can – just one more push!”
Change is messy – yet we need to keep moving forward, taking risks and having the courage to burn some bridges without any guarantee it’ll work out – for the alternative is stagnation. Beltane is a fire festival – symbolic of burning what we’ve outgrown and transforming our lives.
After the flatness of the winter months I’m finding this surge of spring energy enlivening yet exhausting. If I don’t ground myself I quickly become agitated. If you’re feeling like this too, try my current morning ritual:
Stand barefoot on the grass and imagine tree roots growing out of your feet, rooting down into the earth’s core and spreading out in all directions. Then draw imaginary sap up through your roots to your feet, legs and torso, connecting your heart with the earth and filling up with stability and nourishment. This simple practice sets me up for the day in 5 minutes flat.
Later in the summer you can rest and enjoy the fruits of your labour, but for now – keep birthing and keep your feet on the ground.